Writing

The other day I caught this phrase in a list of suggested mantras at just the right time. Not only did it speak to me in that moment, it sparked a thought that has shifted my life.

My immediate reaction was dismissive. I’ve long been scheduling time for me – whether for yoga, meditation, self care, being with friends, etc. I have made a rigorous practice of ensuring there is time for me amid the obligations and flurry of life. And suddenly I saw how doing exactly that was counterintuitive to the underlying concept of time enough for me.

We are our own wellsprings of energy, attitude, and service in this world. Tending to ourselves is the essential foundation that enables us to participate fully and effectively in our relationships and our lives. Treating that care as yet one more thing to be scheduled into life may be missing the point. I saw that time enough for me is not simply a construct in my daily schedule; it is an essential element of the lens through which I perceive life.

Time enough for me means much more than reserving 30 minutes to get into that book I’ve been meaning to read, an hour to spend doing a favorite yoga sequence, a weekly mani-pedi. (All wonderful things!) Time enough for me means letting go of the autopilot relay race from one appointment to the next, giving up the self-imposed pressure of getting it all done, rejecting the sense that I must be doing something purposeful. Every. Single. Minute.

Time enough for me means allowing as many moments as feels good doing absolutely nothing. Staring into space. Musing on life. Daydreaming. It means mindfulness in the daily routines I typically rush through without thought. Enjoying my senses, enjoying my environment, enjoying the incredible reality of existence as a sentient creature. Because in so doing I am affirming to myself that indeed there IS time enough for me. Just to be. If we aren’t actually experiencing the simple being of ourselves, what exactly are we doing?

Certainly there are events and responsibilities that call for our timely participation; I’m not advocating a habit of keeping the people in your life waiting. But I urge you to consider a shift of perspective and notice how when this assurance is part of your approach, and not merely part of your schedule, you can find that there was time enough for you all along.